German Popular Tales

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 18 . Excerpt: ... THE SHADOW. Is the hot countries the sun burns very strongly; there the people become quite mahogany brown, and in the very hottest countries they are even burnt into negroes. But this time it was only to the hot countries that a learned man out of the cold regions had come. He thought he could roam about there just as he had been accustomed to do at home; but he soon altered his opinion. He and all sensible people had to remain at home; the window-shutters and doors were shut all day long; and it looked as if all the inmates were asleep or had gone out. The narrow street, with the high houses, in which he lived, was, however, built in such a way that the sun shone upon it from morning till evening; it was really quite unbearable! The learned man from the cold regions was a young man and a clever man; it seemed to him as if he was sitting in a glowing oven; that exhausted him greatly, and he became quite thin; even his shadow shrivelled up and became much smaller than it had been at home; the sun even took the shadow away, and it did not return till the evening when the sun went down. It was really a pleasure to see this; so soon as a light was brought into the room the shadow stretched itself quite up the wall, farther even than the ceiling, so tall did it make itself; it was obliged to stretch to get strength again. The learned man went out into the balcony to stretch himself; and so soon as the stars came out in the beautiful clear sky, he felt himself reviving. On all the balconies in the streets--and in the hot countries there is a balcony to every window--young people now appeared, for one must breathe fresh air, even if one has got used to becoming mahogany brown; then it became lively above and below; the tinkers_and tailors--by which we mean all_...